What to do about quarter panel damage

[VetteMed]

I do some stupid stuff, but this morning, while leaving for work at O'dark-thirty, I did something really stupid, and misjudged how much room I had between the rear bumper and the fencepost. As a result, the rear quarter panel on the driver's side is cracked and buckled outwards. The rear bumper cover is scratched but not cracked. Now, the car is far from cosmetically perfect, but the outward buckling is obvious and is going to be a constant reminder of my stupidity. I'm hoping maybe there's a way I can at least get the area to sit flush as it should, and I'll just touch up the scratches and wait until I can afford a complete repaint, for a proper repair to be done. I'm attaching some pics, thanks for any advice.

-Andrew

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0381.jpg

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0382.jpg

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0383.jpg

[VetteMed]

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0380.jpg

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0384.jpg

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0387.jpg

[VetteMed]

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0385.jpg

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0386.jpg

[ZZZZZR1]

Looks fixable to me.

VetteDaddy is the fiberglass expert..

Hope he agree's!

:cheers:

David

[Blue Flame Restorations]

Dave's way too kind and easy with the "expert" word. LOL

There's an L shaped bracket glued to the 1/4 panel. The rear bumper wrap around attaches to this piece. Something is either in a bind or bent where the L shaped steel bracket attaches. You should loosen the bumper wrap around (lower 1/4 part of bumper) and see if the L shaped piece bracket is bent. I believe the bumper attaches to the bracket with 8mm or 10mm screws.

The SMC fiberglass an be repaired. It may have to be cut in the cracked area to relieve the pressure that's causing it to bulge, when it gets repaired. It will need re-inforced from the backside and cosmetically repaired from the outside. It will be fine when done. Just make sure that the repair materials are SMC friendly.

[phrogs]

Try lord fusor and evercoat they are what I use.
Like He said you need the products specifically for SMC panels.

Now if the damage did not crack through to the back you really shouldn't need to put anything on the back side but that bottom edge could use a little more work than the rest

First things first SMC will bend under pressure so That bumper needs to come off relax that quarter and see how out of wack it really is or just take off the parts on that corner. You have some bracing for the rear bumper bolted in that area it could be pushing on it as well

I could fix this for under $1000 but you are a long way from me.

If you want a full repaint I can do it but it will cost more depending on the level of the job you want done.

[Kevin]

you're less then 2hrs from me johnny, mind if i call on ya if i ever need a hand?

[rhipsher]

If you pay to have it fixed your looking at $2K easy. My damage wasn't near as bad as yours when that lady decided to merge into my lane.
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn63/keeno1970/2011-01-06_20-56-34_581.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn63/keeno1970/2011-01-06_20-56-06_200.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn63/keeno1970/2011-01-06_20-51-32_355.jpg

And it cost $1852. Luckily her insurance paid for it. Didn't cost me a dime and looks awesome.

[Blue Flame Restorations]

Once the material is stressed to the point of cracking the surface on the front side, the inner strands are compromised. The outer surface needs tress relieved and then the backside does need the structural
integrity restored. Otherwise, the repair will eventually bleed through.

[GOLDCYLON]

DAMN ITs fixable but DAMN Bro

[rhipsher]

DAMN ITs fixable but DAMN Bro Hahaha! Yeah it doesnt take much with a fiberglass car does it. In some ways they are more forgiving than sheet metal. You could toss a baseball under handed at our cars and it would just bounce off and not even leave a mark. But would leave a dent in sheet metal body panels. But when they crumble they splinter everywhere.

[phrogs]

Once the material is stressed to the point of cracking the surface on the front side, the inner strands are compromised. The outer surface needs tress relieved and then the backside does need the structural
integrity restored. Otherwise, the repair will eventually bleed through.


Yep and you will not know until you sand down the area and map out the damage and see whats going on.

There may also be some Bonding glue comprimised.

This is a minor boo boo.

[VetteMed]

Thanks guys... I know someone locally who may be able to give me a hand, he is much more experienced with body/paint than I am... paying a pro at this time is not an option (just dropped almost $2K on injectors for my Duramax!). I will take along all of your info when I stop by his place.

[VetteMed]

I took out the wheelhouse and some of the trim this morning, and snapped some more pics. It appears that the strip that was bonded to the quarter panel, which is used for mounting/attaching the bumper cover, has pulled off of the inside of the quarter panel. The crack does not penetrate all the way through to the inside surface of the quarter panel.

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0390.jpg

This is the mounting strip that popped off of the inside of the quarter:
http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0391.jpg

This is the area where the strip was bonded:
http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0392.jpg

[VetteMed]

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0394.jpg

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0395.jpg

[VetteMed]

Update - I removed the trim and bumper cover, and patched the panel from the inside, using Lord Fusor T21 (specifically intended for SMC fiberglass), with standard fiberglass cloth. Apparently using normal fiberglass resin is a no-no, as the mold-release compound in SMC will prevent proper adhesion. T21 is a 2-part epoxy product.

After reinforcing the back side, I bonded the bracket back on to the inner surface of the panel, and used the T21 as filler for the crack, which I had sanded down to remove all loose paint and fiber. I still have more sanding to do, and probably one more application of T21 to get the previously cracked area filled in.

A friend of mine is going to respray the rear bumper cover, trim, quarter panel, and while he's at it, also the headlight buckets which are badly yellowed, and the CHMSL which is chalked.

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0443.jpg

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0444.jpg

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0445.jpg

[VetteMed]

Update on this project:

http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0474.jpg

Rear bumper cover reinstalled
http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0480.jpg

RAAMmat installed in wheelwells to reduce resonance and tire noise
http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0482.jpg
http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0483.jpg

Finished product... Though I have some white LT5 emblems that I'm thinking of installing...
http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0484.jpg
http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/vv163/agchoset/1991%20ZR-1/IMG_0486.jpg

It's not a show-quality job, there's some color difference between the new panels and the 21 year old original paint, but this wasn't intended to be a restoration, just a repair, so I'm content with it until the time comes where I can afford a full disassembly, repaint, weatherstrip, etc.

[rhipsher]

Good job!

[QB93Z]

That was a very good repair. Thanks for the update. It is nice to know that there are options available for mishaps.

Jim

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Very nice job and great information on how to repair. Thanks for sharing.:cheers:

[tomtom72]

Andrew that came out great! Nice glass work man.:thumbsup: